11

Wow. It feels like I updated a couple of days ago. My sense of time is getting so thrown off – just from growing up, I think. I'm not used to the idea that time goes faster now that I'm seventeen than it did when I was twelve or something.

It's a very short chapter, but you'll see that it had to end where it does.

The creeping thought that there was no simple solution to the problems on Okutu was, to my relief, quieted by Chisu Lasir. When we reported to him a few days later, he had some news for us. He had heard reports from several sources that Mibir, especially in the northwest city, were talking about someone who called him- or herself Taksayan. That meant Fireflight in Okutushu, and it was the name of a sort of imaginary hero for the Mibir, a spirit of the species. Tiku Lasir thought that this name had been circulating for some time, but nobody had realized that it was a real person until recently.

This was interesting. Somebody had decided to take on the persona of a Mibir dream and was becoming known. Who was this person? Where could we find him or her? Was this the key?

I meditated for a long time on that, but I didn't get anywhere.

Fireflight. Hmm.

We asked Daru and our other helpers if they had heard of Taksayan. Most laughed and tried to tell us that he was an element of literature and tall tales. Nobody had any information for us.

Daru said that this wasn't the way to get anything better. He said it would waste our time and energy, which we didn't have enough of in the first place. I wasn't about to give up, though. This was what I wanted to find.

Daru gave me a concerned look when he thought I wouldn't notice. He had never worried about me before, so I didn't think I should like it, but it was sweet of him.

News started coming in soon enough. It seemed that once we knew what to look for, Taksayan was everywhere. There was no way to trace him, but he was there. He hated Jedi. He hated Tiku Lasir, the High Governor, and the rest of the government because they treated all species equally. According to some people, he had an itaka with a name, which is unusual for an itaka. That's more like a Coruscant gang, actually, and Taksayan did not like Coruscant. It was probably just for intimidation. Their name was Samudri. Blood-dust.

Well, that was everywhere, and so were they.

I was woken up one morning by a loud explosion. We all ran out into the hallway. A Hssak walked through the hallway, hissing what I guess were comforting words in its language. At any rate, most people returned to their rooms.

The Hssak beckoned to us and Iru Tokan, the only people around who worked in the streets. Iru Tokan was an unusually disagreeable Mibir who had somehow gotten to live in the palace, one of the only non-Jedi Kebro peacekeepers who did. He had apparently known – perhaps been friends with – Tiku Lasir before this had started. He obviously disliked Zabrak – he gave us angry looks whenever we crossed paths at the palace. He was kind enough to ignore us that morning.

We followed the Hssak to Tiku Lasir, who, of course, was wide awake – I'm convinced that he never slept the entire time we were in Kebro. His face was drawn, and he tapped his fingers against his leg, more worried than I had ever seen him.

"This time, it was aimed at us," he said. "In fact, it was on the grounds. Nobody was killed or seriously injured, but as this is possible, we must be more cautious in the future.

That started the longest day of my life except, perhaps, Geonosis.